Landslides, house collapses kill eight in Mizoram; 11 missing

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Last Updated: Sat, May 11, 2013 15:20 hrs

Aizawl, May 11 (IANS) At least eight people were killed and 11 were missing, while 25 others sustained injuries in Mizoram Saturday, when nine houses were swept away in a massive landslide, officials said.

"Incessant rains for the past one week caused nine houses to be swept away in huge landslides at Laipuitland locality here early Saturday morning, killing eight people on the spot," a police official told reporters.

The 25 injured were shifted to a government hospital; a search is on for the missing 11 people.

Security personnel and volunteers were searching the debris for missing people, although there are apprehensions that they may have died.

Mizoram Chief Minister Lal Thanhawla and other ministers have visited the accident spot and the hospital where the injured are being treated.

A large number of villages have become inaccessible after the landslides. The rain has continued since Saturday, and highways are blocked.

"The landslides also blocked the Champai Road (in Saiha district in southern Mizoram) connecting Aizawl city with the Mizoram-Myanmar border," a Mizoram relief and rehabilitation department official said.

According to the official, Kolasib district in northern Mizoram was the worst hit with more than 150 houses badly damaged and four people seriously injured in the cyclonic storms.

Electricity supply was badly disrupted in many areas of the mountainous state.

The Met Offices in Agartala and Aizawl Friday predicted more rain and cyclonic storms in the next 48 hours. The rains have been accompanied by thunder and lightning.